Image capturing apparatus capable of capturing panoramic image

ABSTRACT

A digital camera includes an image capturing unit, an image composition unit, and a display control unit. The image capturing unit captures frames at predetermined time intervals. The image composition unit sequentially combines at least a part of image data from image data of a plurality of frames sequentially captured by the image capturing unit at predetermined time intervals. The display control unit performs control to sequentially display image data combined by the image composition unit while the image data of the frames are captured by the image capturing unit at predetermined time intervals.

This application is a Continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 13/243,387, filed Sep. 23, 2011 and is based upon and claims thebenefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No.2010-213657, filed Sep. 24, 2010. The entire contents of both theabove-identified applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, an imagedisplaying method, and a storage medium, and more particularly to animage capturing apparatus capable of capturing a panoramic image, animage displaying method, and a storage medium having stored therein aprogram.

2. Related Art

A panoramic image capture function has been conventionally provided as afunction of an image capturing apparatus.

The panoramic image capture function is a function of generating imagedata of a panoramic image by allowing a digital camera to perform imagecapturing a plurality of times while the digital camera is moved in ahorizontal direction in a state in which a user continuously pressesdown a shutter button thereof, and combining data of the plurality ofimages thus acquired as a result of image capturing, in a landscape(horizontal) orientation.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1994-303562 discloses atechnique in which a digital camera displays a landscape-oriented boxsuperimposed on an image currently being captured and presents theprogress of panoramic image capturing by use of a horizontal barstretching along a landscape orientation within the landscape-orientedbox.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, when capturing a panoramic image using the technique of theabove-described patent document, a user cannot confirm the history ofcaptured images, e.g., as to what kinds of images have been capturedfrom the start of the panoramic image capturing until the present.

Therefore, there may be a case in which it turns out that a necessaryimage is missing or, conversely, that an unnecessary image is capturedafter the panoramic image capturing is ended. In such a case, the userhas to repeat the image capture operation many times in order to acquirea desired panoramic image.

The present invention is conceived in view of the above-describedcircumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to enable auser to easily view and recognize the history of so far captured imageswhile a panoramic image is being captured.

In order to attain the above-described object, in accordance with afirst aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imagecapturing apparatus, comprising: an image capturing unit that captureframes at predetermined time intervals, an image composition unit thatsequentially combines at least a part of image data from image data of aplurality of frames sequentially captured by the image capturing unit atpredetermined time intervals; and a display control unit that performscontrol to sequentially display image data combined by the imagecomposition unit while the image data of the frames are captured by theimage capturing unit at the predetermined time intervals.

In order to attain the above-described object, in accordance with asecond aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imagedisplaying method performed by an image capturing apparatus providedwith an image capturing unit that captures frames at predetermined timeintervals, the image displaying method comprising: an image compositionstep of sequentially combining at least a part of image data from imagedata of a plurality of the frames captured by the image capturing unitat predetermined time intervals; and a display control unit step ofperforming control to sequentially display image data combined in theimage composition step while the image data of the frames are beingcaptured by the image capturing unit at predetermined time intervals.

In order to attain the above-described object, in accordance with athird aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storagemedium of a computer in an image capturing apparatus provided with animage capturing unit that capture frames at predetermined timeintervals, the storage medium having stored therein a program to makethe computer function as: an image composition unit that sequentiallycombines at least a part of image data from image data of a plurality offrames sequentially captured by the image capturing unit atpredetermined time intervals; and a display control unit that performscontrol to sequentially display image data combined by the imagecomposition unit while the image data of the frames are being capturedby the image capturing unit at predetermined time intervals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a digitalcamera as one embodiment of an image capturing apparatus according tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configurationfor the digital camera shown in FIG. 1 to carry out image captureprocessing;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating image capture operations incases in which a normal image capture mode and a panoramic image capturemode are respectively selected as an operation mode of the digitalcamera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of panoramic image generated inthe panoramic image capture mode shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIGS. 5A to 5C are rear views showing an external configuration of thedigital camera shown in FIG. 1 displaying a panoramic image in progress;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating image composition processing of theimage processing unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing one example of flow of image captureprocessing; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed flow of panoramic image captureprocessing among the image capture processing of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a digitalcamera 1 as one embodiment of an image capturing apparatus according tothe present invention.

The digital camera 1 is provided with a CPU (Central Processing Unit)11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a bus14, an optical system 15, an image capturing unit 16, an imageprocessing unit 17, a storing unit 18, a display unit 19, an operationunit 20, a communication unit 21, an angular velocity sensor 22, and adrive 23.

The CPU 11 executes various processes according to programs that arestored in the ROM 12 or programs that are loaded from the storing unit18 to the RAM 13.

The ROM 12 also stores data and the like, necessary for the CPU 11 toexecute the various processes, as appropriate.

For example, according to the present embodiment, programs forimplementing functions of an image capture control unit 51, an imagecomposition unit 52, an image reduction unit 53, and a display controlunit 54 shown in FIG. 2, which will be described later, are stored inthe ROM 12 or the storing unit 18. Therefore, each of the functions ofthe image capture control unit 51, the image composition unit 52, theimage reduction unit 53, and the display control unit 54 shown in FIG.2, which will be described later, can be realized by the CPU 11executing the processes according to these programs.

Incidentally, it is possible to transfer at least a part of eachfunction of the image capture control unit 51, the image compositionunit 52, the image reduction unit 53, and the display control unit 54shown in FIG. 2, which will be described later, to the image processingunit 17.

The CPU 11, the ROM 12, and the RAM 13 are connected to one another viathe bus 14. The bus 14 is also connected with the optical system 15, theimage capturing unit 16, the image processing unit 17, the storing unit18, the display unit 19, the operation unit 20, the communication unit21, the angular velocity sensor 22, and the drive 23.

The optical system 15 is configured by a light condensing lens such as afocus lens, a zoom lens, and the like, for example, to photograph asubject. The focus lens is a lens for forming an image of a subject onthe light receiving surface of the image sensor of the image capturingunit 16. The zoom lens is a lens for freely changing a focal pointwithin a predetermined range. The optical system 15 is also providedwith peripheral circuits to adjust focus, exposure, and the like, asnecessary.

The image capturing unit 16 is configured by an optoelectronicconversion device, an AFE (Analog Front End), and the like. Theoptoelectronic conversion device is configured by a CCD (Charge CoupledDevice) type or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) typeoptoelectronic conversion device, for example. The optoelectronicconversion device optoelectronically converts (i.e., captures), at apredetermined interval, a light signal of an image of a subject, whichhas been incident and accumulated during the interval, and sequentiallysupplies the resultant analog signal to the AFE.

The AFE executes various kinds of signal processing such as A/D(Analog/Digital) conversion on the analog signal and outputs theresultant digital signal as an output signal from the image capturingunit 16.

Hereinafter, the output signal from the image capturing unit 16 isreferred to as “image data of a captured image”. Thus, image data of acaptured image is outputted from the image capturing unit 16 andprovided as appropriate to the image processing unit 17 and the like.

The image processing unit 17 is configured by a DSP (Digital SignalProcessor), a VRAM (Video Random Access Memory), and the like.

The image processing unit 17 collaborates with the CPU 11 to executevarious kinds of image processing such as noise reduction, whitebalance, anti-shaking, and the like on image data of a captured imageinputted from the image capturing unit 16 at a predetermined interval.

Hereinafter, image data of each captured image inputted from the imagecapturing unit 16 at a predetermined interval is referred to as “imagedata of a frame”. In the present embodiment, such a frame is employed asa unit of processing. That is, the image processing unit 17 carries outvarious kinds of image processing on image data of a frame provided fromthe image capturing unit 16 and outputs the resultant image data.

The storing unit 18 is configured by a DRAM (Dynamic Random AccessMemory) and the like and temporarily stores image data of a frameoutputted from the image processing unit 17, image data of a panoramicimage in progress, which will be described later, and the like. Also,the storing unit 18 stores various kinds of data necessary for variouskinds of image processing.

The display unit 19 is configured as a flat display panel, for example,including an LCD (Liquid Crystal Device), an LCD driving unit, and thelike. The display unit 19 displays an image represented by image dataprovided from the storing unit 18 or the like, e.g., a live-view imagethat will be described later, as a frame unit.

The operation unit 20 includes a plurality of switches, as well as ashutter switch 41, such as a power switch, an image capture mode switch,and a playback switch, which are not illustrated. When one of theplurality of switches is pressed, the operation unit 20 provides to theCPU 11 an instruction assigned to the switch.

The communication unit 21 controls communication with other devices (notshown) via a network including the Internet.

The angular velocity sensor 22 includes a gyro or the like, detects avalue of angular displacement of the digital camera 1, and provides tothe CPU 11 the digital signal (hereinafter, referred to simply as“angular displacement”) indicating the detection result. Here, theangular velocity sensor 22 is assumed to have a function of detectingthe direction of the geomagnetic field and thereby to implement afunction of direction sensor, as necessary.

To the drive 23, removable media 31 such as a magnetic disk, an opticaldisk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory is mounted asappropriate. Also, programs read from the removable media 31 areinstalled in the storing unit 18 as necessary. Furthermore, similar tothe storing unit 18, the removable media 31 can store various kinds ofdata such as image data and the like stored in the storing unit 18.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configurationto carry out a series of processing (hereinafter, referred to as “imagecapture processing”) up to storing captured image data of a subject inthe removable media 31 from among the processing carried out by thedigital camera 1 shown in FIG. 1.

The CPU 11 is provided with an image capture control unit 51 thatcontrols the execution of the image capture processing.

The image capture control unit 51 can, for example, selectively switchan operation mode of the digital camera 1 between a normal image capturemode and a panoramic image capture mode and can execute the processingaccording to the operation mode after switching.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating image capture operations incases in which the normal image capture mode and the panoramic imagecapture mode are respectively selected as the operation mode of thedigital camera 1 shown in FIG. 1.

More specifically, FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating the image captureoperation in the normal image capture mode. FIG. 3B is a diagramillustrating the image capture operation in the panoramic image capturemode.

In each of FIGS. 3A and 3B, the picture in the back of the digitalcamera 1 shows a real world view including the imaging target of thedigital camera 1. The vertical dotted lines shown in FIG. 3B indicatepositions a, b, and c in the moving direction of the digital camera 1.Here, the moving direction of the digital camera 1 is intended to mean adirection in which an optical axis of the digital camera 1 moves whenthe user pivots about his/her own body to change the shooting direction(angle) of the digital camera 1.

The normal image capture mode is intended to mean an operation mode inwhich an image of a size (resolution) corresponding to the field of viewof the digital camera 1 is captured.

In the normal image capture mode, as shown in FIG. 3A, the user pressesthe shutter switch 41 of the operation unit 20 all the way down whilefixedly holding the digital camera 1. Hereinafter, such an operation ofpressing the shutter switch 41 all the way down is referred to as “fullpress operation” or simply “full press”.

The image capture control unit 51 controls execution of a series ofprocesses up to a process of storing in the removable media 31, as atarget to be recorded, image data of a frame outputted from the imageprocessing unit 17 immediately after the user's full press operation.

Hereinafter, such a series of processes carried out under control of theimage capture control unit 51 in the normal image capture mode isreferred to as “normal image capture processing”.

On the other hand, the panoramic image capture mode is intended to meanan operation mode in which a panoramic image is captured.

In the panoramic image capture mode, as shown in FIG. 3B, the user movesthe digital camera 1 in a direction of black arrows shown therein, whilecontinuing the full press operation of the shutter switch 41.

While the full press operation is continued, the image capture controlunit 51 controls the image composition unit 52 to repeat temporarilystoring in the storing unit 18 image data of a frame outputted from theimage processing unit 17 immediately after each time angulardisplacement cumulatively provided from the angular velocity sensor 22reaches a constant value.

After that, the user gives an instruction for termination of thepanoramic image capturing by an operation of releasing the full pressoperation (hereinafter, referred to as “release operation”), i.e.,moving a finger or the like away from the shutter switch 41.

When instructed to terminate the panoramic image capturing, the imagecapture control unit 51 generates image data of a panoramic image byhorizontally combining image data of the plurality of frames so farstored in the storing unit 18 in the stored order.

The image capture control unit 51 then stores the image data of thepanoramic image in the removable media 31 as a target to be recorded.

Thus, in the panoramic image capture mode, the image capture controlunit 51 controls a series of processing from generating image data of apanoramic image up to storing it in the removable media 31 as a targetto be recorded.

Hereinafter, such a series of processing in the panoramic image capturemode carried out under control of the image capture control unit 51 isreferred to as “panoramic image capture processing”.

FIG. 4 shows one example of a panoramic image acquired by the panoramicimage capture processing.

In the panoramic image capture mode, when an image capture operationsuch as shown in FIG. 3B is performed, the image capture control unit 51controls the execution of the panoramic image capture processing. As aresult, image data of a panoramic image P3 shown in FIG. 4 is generatedand stored in the removable media 31.

In addition, in the present embodiment, regardless of whether in thenormal image capture mode or in the panoramic image capture mode, theimage capture control unit 51 shown in FIG. 2 executes live-view imagecapture processing and live-view image display processing.

Before the full press operation, the user can press the shutter switch41 of the operation unit 20 half way down (as far as a predeterminedposition but short of its lower limit) in order to cause the digitalcamera 1 to execute AF (Auto Focus) processing, or the like.Hereinafter, the above-described operation of pressing the shutterswitch half way down (as far as a predetermined position but short ofits lower limit) is referred to as “half press operation” or simply“half press”.

When a half press operation is performed, the image capture control unit51 controls the image capturing unit 16 and the image processing unit 17to continue the image capturing by the image capturing unit 16. Whilethe image capturing is continued by the image capturing unit 16, theimage capture control unit 51 temporarily stores in a memory (thestoring unit 18, in the present embodiment) image data of framesoutputted from the image processing unit 17 via the image capturing unit16. Such a series of processes by the image capture control unit 51 isreferred to as “live-view image capture processing”.

Also, the image capture control unit 51 controls the display controlunit 54 to sequentially read the image data of each frame imagetemporarily stored in the memory (the storing unit 18 in the presentembodiment) at the time of the live-view image capturing and to causethe display unit 19 to sequentially display each frame imagecorresponding to the image data. Such a series of processes by the imagecapture control unit 51 is referred to as “live-view image displayprocessing”. Hereinafter, a frame image that is displayed on the displayunit 19 by the live-view image display processing is referred to as“live-view image”.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, when a full press operation isperformed in a state in which the panoramic image capture mode isselected, an image (hereinafter, referred to as “panoramic image inprogress”) showing an area so far captured from the panoramic image tobe generated is superimposed on the live-view image displayed on thedisplay unit 19.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are rear views showing an external configuration of thedigital camera 1 shown in FIG. 1 displaying a panoramic image inprogress.

FIG. 5A shows an external configuration of the digital camera 1 at theposition “a” of FIG. 3B. FIG. 5B shows an external configuration of thedigital camera 1 at the position “b” of FIG. 3B. FIG. 5C shows anexternal configuration of the digital camera 1 at the position “c” ofFIG. 3B.

This means that FIGS. 5A to 5C show a transition of respective displaystates of the digital camera 1 while the user sequentially moves thedigital camera 1 from the position a to the position c in the panoramicimage capture mode.

More specifically, while the digital camera 1 moves to the positions a,b, and c in turn, the display unit 19 sequentially displays thelive-view images PA1, PB1, and PC1 respectively corresponding to thepositions a, b, and c. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, thepanoramic images in progress PA2, PB2, and PC2 are superimposedrespectively on the live-view images PA1, PB1, and PC1.

Since the user can perform the operation of panoramic image capturingwhile viewing and recognizing such panoramic images in progress, PA2,PB2, and PC2, it becomes possible to easily and accurately view andrecognize the histories of image capturing from the start of thepanoramic image capturing up to the present. As a result, the user caneasily acquire a desired panoramic image without repeating the imagecapturing operation many times.

As shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 11 of the digital camera 1 is provided with,as well as the above-described image capture control unit 51, the imagecomposition unit 52, the image reduction unit 53, and the displaycontrol unit 54 in order to enable this type of display of the panoramicimage in progress.

Incidentally, as described above, the functions of the image compositionunit 52, the image reduction unit 53, and the display control unit 54are not necessarily embedded in the CPU 11, as in the presentembodiment, and it is possible to transfer at least a part thereof tothe image processing unit 17.

The image composition unit 52 executes processing (hereinafter, referredto as “image composition processing”) of horizontally combining imagedata of the frames, which are sequentially supplied from the imageprocessing unit 17, in the supplied order. As a result of the imagecomposition processing, image data of a panoramic image in progress isacquired and supplied to the image reduction unit 53.

More specifically, for example, the image capture control unit 51monitors the detection result of the angular velocity sensor 22 and,each time the cumulative value of angular displacement reaches aconstant value, issues an acquisition instruction to acquire image dataof a frame. The image composition unit 52, immediately after receivingthe acquisition instruction, acquires the image data of the framesupplied from the image processing unit 17 as a target to be combined.This means that the image composition unit 52 sequentially acquiresimage data of a frame to be combined each time the image capture controlunit 51 issues an acquisition instruction from the start of the fullpress operation of the shutter switch 41.

The image composition unit 52 horizontally and sequentially combines theimage data of the plurality of frames, which have been acquired astargets to be combined from the start of the full press operation of theshutter switch 41 until the present, in the acquired order.

As a result of such image composition processing, the image compositionunit 52 acquires image data of a panoramic image in progress andsupplies it to the image reduction unit 53.

Here, images of the image data to be targets for the image compositionprocessing are not limited and may be each frame of the image dataacquired from the start of a full press operation of the shutter switch41 until the present, for example. In the present embodiment, however,image data of a panoramic image in progress generated in the previousimage composition processing and image data of the frame lastly acquiredas a target to be combined are employed as targets for the imagecomposition processing.

In the present embodiment, the size (resolution) of a panoramic image inprogress generated by the image composition unit 52 is assumed to befixed at the same size as the maximum possible size of a panoramic imagefinally generated.

For this reason, in the process of capturing a panoramic image, i.e.,while the digital camera 1 is being moved, although several frames ofthe image data so far acquired are horizontally combined, the horizontalsize of the combined frames will not reach the maximum width, andtherefore a partial area of the panoramic image in progress remainsunfilled with effective images of the frames. In the present embodiment,such a partial area is uniformly painted in a predetermined color (e.g.,hatching, in the example of FIGS. 5A to 5C). Hereinafter, such a partialarea, i.e., an area consisting of uniformly constant pixel values (e.g.,uniformly with 0 indicating hatching) is referred to as “blank area”.

In the present embodiment, using the image data of the previouspanoramic image in progress and the image data of the frame lastlyacquired as a target to be combined, the image composition unit 52executes image composition processing that overwrites the frame to becombined on the blank area of the previous panoramic image in progress.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the image composition processingexecuted by the image composition unit 52 shown in FIG. 2.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a storage area 101 shownin FIG. 6 is provided in the storing unit 18, for example.

The storage area 101 is segmented into N frame storage areas 101-1 to101-N. Here, N is an arbitrary integer greater than 1 with a reservationthat the size in a horizontal direction (the x-axis in FIG. 6) of theframe storage areas 101-1 to 101-N matches the size of the panoramicimage in progress, i.e., the maximum possible size in a horizontaldirection of the panoramic image finally generated. Also, N matches themaximum possible number of frames of the data which can be acquired bythe image composition unit 52 to be combined throughout the panoramicimage capture processing.

When a K-th acquisition instruction is issued after the panoramic imagecapture processing has started by a full press operation of the shutterswitch 41, at least a part of the image data of the frame acquired to becombined by the image composition unit 52 is stored in the frame storagearea 101-K.

The reason for the description of “at least a part of image data of theframe” is because there may be a case in which the pixel size of imagedata of a frame is greater than the pixel size of the frame storage area101-K. In such a case, image data corresponding to only a predeterminedpart of the frame is stored in the frame storage area 101-K.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the entire image datastored in the storage area 101 is the image data of a panoramic image inprogress. As an initial state, the storage area 101 uniformly storesidentical pixel values (e.g., 0 indicating hatching). That means that,in an initial state, the entire N frame storage areas 101-1 to 101-Ncontain data indicative of a blank area.

Therefore, at a time when the image data of the K-th frame to becombined is acquired by the image composition unit 52, the frame storageareas 101-1 to 101-(K−1), from among the N frame storage areas 101-1 to101-N, contain image data of an effective image. Here, the effectiveimage is intended to mean an image acquired as a result of combining atleast a part of each one of the 1st to (K−1)-th frames to be combined ina horizontal direction (x-axis in FIG. 6) in the numbered order. On theother hand, the frame storage areas 101-K to 101-N still contain dataindicative of a blank area.

At least a part of image data of the frame acquired for the K-th time tobe combined is stored in the frame storage area 101-K from among framestorage areas 101-K to 101-N containing data of a blank area. Thus, theentire data stored in the storage area 101 forms image data of apanoramic image in progress.

After that, the image composition unit 52 shown in FIG. 2 reads theentire data stored in the storage area 101 as image data of a panoramicimage in progress and supplies it to the image reduction unit 53.

Each time image data of a panoramic image in progress is supplied fromthe image composition unit 52, the image reduction unit 53 executesreduction processing to reduce the size (resolution) of the image data.Here, the rate of reduction can be arbitrarily set within a range suchthat the panoramic image in progress is smaller than the live-view image(frame).

The image data of the panoramic image in progress thus reduced in size(resolution) is supplied from the image reduction unit 53 to the displaycontrol unit 54.

The display control unit 54 performs control to cause the display unit19 to display, as a live-view image, a frame expressed by the image datatemporarily stored in the storing unit 18.

Furthermore, in the panoramic image capture processing, the displaycontrol unit 54 performs control to cause the display unit 19 tosuperimpose an image expressed by the reduced image data supplied fromthe image reduction unit 53, i.e., the reduced panoramic image inprogress, on the live-view image.

After that, when the user's finger or the like is released from theshutter switch 41, i.e., when a release operation is performed, theimage capture control unit 51 performs control to cause the removablemedia 31 to store the image data to be recorded.

More specifically, in the case of the normal capture mode, the imagecapture control unit 51 performs control to cause the removable media 31to store image data of a frame outputted from the image processing unit17 as the image data to be recorded.

On the other hand, in the case of the panoramic capture mode, the imagecapture control unit 51 performs control to cause the removable media 31to store image data of a panoramic image via the image composition unit52.

For example, the image composition unit 52 reads image data of aneffective image from an area other than the blank area of the storagearea 101 (FIG. 6), and executes image processing such as reduction orexpansion as appropriate thereon. With this, image data of a panoramicimage to be recorded is generated. Thus, generated image data of thepanoramic image is supplied to the drive 23 and stored in the removablemedia 31 as the image data to be recorded.

In the following, a description will be given of the image captureprocessing carried out by the digital camera 1 having this type offunctional configuration with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing one example of flow of the image captureprocessing.

In the present embodiment, the image capture processing starts when thepower supply (not shown) of the digital camera 1 is turned on.

In step S1, the image capture control unit 51 executes operationdetection processing and initialization processing.

The operation detection processing is intended to mean a process ofdetecting the states of switches of the operation unit 20. By executingthe operation detection processing, the image capture control unit 51can detect whether the normal image capture mode or the panoramic imagecapture mode is specified as the operation mode.

The initialization processing in the present embodiment includes aprocess of setting a constant value of the angular displacement and athreshold value (e.g., 360 degrees) as an upper limit of the angulardisplacement.

More specifically, the constant value of the angular displacement andthe threshold value (e.g., 360 degrees) as an upper limit of the angulardisplacement are stored in advance in the ROM 12 shown in FIG. 1, andthose values are set after being read from the ROM 12 and written intothe RAM 13. The constant value of the angular displacement is used inthe determination process of step S35 of FIG. 8, which will be describedlater. On the other hand, the threshold value (e.g., 360 degrees) as anupper limit of the angular displacement is used in the determinationprocess of step S45 of FIG. 8.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the angular displacementdetected by the angular velocity sensor 22 is accumulatively added, forexample, as shown in steps S34 and S40 of FIG. 8, which will bedescribed later. As a result of accumulation thereof, a cumulativeangular displacement and a total angular displacement are stored in theRAM 13. The difference between the cumulative angular displacement andthe total angular displacement will be described later. Therefore,processes of resetting the cumulative angular displacement and the totalangular displacement to 0 are included in the initialization processingin the present embodiment. The cumulative angular displacement iscompared with the above-described constant value in the determinationprocess of step S35 of FIG. 8, which will be described later. On theother hand, the total angular displacement is compared with theabove-described threshold value in the determination process of step S45of FIG. 8, which will be described later.

Furthermore, the initialization processing in the present embodimentincludes a process of resetting an error flag to 0. The error flag isintended to mean a flag that is set to 1 when an error occurs during thepanoramic image capture processing (see step S44 of FIG. 8, which willbe described later).

In step S2, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notthe shutter switch 41 is half pressed.

If the shutter switch 41 is not half pressed, a determination of NO ismade in step S2, and control proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notit is instructed to terminate the processing.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that, as the instruction toterminate the processing, notification is used which indicates that thepower supply (not shown) of the digital camera 1 has been turned off,though the instruction to terminate the processing is no particularlimitation thereto.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the image capture controlunit 51 is notified that the power supply has been turned off, adetermination of YES is made in step S12, and the entire image captureprocessing ends.

On the other hand, when the power supply is on, since the image capturecontrol unit 51 is not notified that the power supply has been turnedoff, a determination of NO is made in step S12, control goes back tostep S2, and the processes thereafter are repeated. This means that, inthe present embodiment, as long as the power is on, the loop processingfrom steps S2: NO, to S12: NO, is repeated until the shutter switch 41is half pressed, and the image capture processing enters into a waitingstate.

When the shutter switch 41 is half pressed during the waiting state, adetermination of YES is made in step S2, and control proceeds to stepS3.

In step S3, the image capture control unit 51 starts the live-view imagecapture processing and the live-view image display processing, whichhave been described earlier.

With this, the live-view image is displayed on the display unit 19. Inthe present embodiment, it is assumed that the live-view image iscontinuously displayed on the display unit 19 until the normal imagecapture processing of step S7 or the panoramic image capture processingof step S8 ends, which will be described later.

In step S4, the image capture control unit 51 controls the imagecapturing unit 16 to execute what is called AF processing.

In step S5, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notthe shutter switch 41 has been fully pressed.

If the shutter switch 41 has not been fully pressed, a determination ofNO is made in step S5. In such a case, control goes back to step S4, andthe processes thereafter are repeated. This means that, in the presentembodiment, the loop processing from step S4 and step S5: NO is repeateduntil the shutter switch 41 is fully pressed, and the AF processing isexecuted each time the loop processing is repeated.

After that, when the shutter switch 41 is fully pressed, a determinationof YES is made in step S5, and control proceeds to step S6.

In step S6, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notthe operation mode currently set is the panoramic image capture mode.

If the operation mode is not the panoramic image capture mode, i.e., thenormal image capture mode is currently set, a determination of NO ismade in step S6, and control proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the image capture control unit 51 executes theabove-described normal image capture processing.

This means that image data of one frame outputted from the imageprocessing unit 17 immediately after the full press operation is storedin the removable media 31, as a target to be recorded. With this, thenormal image capture processing of step S7 ends, and control proceeds tostep S12. Since the processes of steps S12 and thereafter have beenalready described above, description thereof is omitted here.

On the other hand, if the panoramic image capture mode is currently set,a determination of YES is made in step S6, and control proceeds to stepS8.

In step S8, the image capture control unit 51 executes the panoramicimage capture processing described above.

Though the detailed description of the panoramic image captureprocessing will be given later with reference to FIG. 8, basically,image data of a panoramic image is generated and stored in the removablemedia 31 as a target to be recorded. With this, the panoramic imagecapture processing of step S8 ends, and control proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notthe error flag is set to 1.

With the detailed description to be given later with reference to FIG.8, if the image data of the panoramic image is stored in the removablemedia 31 as a target to be recorded and thereby the panoramic imagecapture processing of step S8 properly ends, the error flag is set to 0.In such a case, a determination of NO is made in step S9, and controlproceeds to step S12. Since the processes of steps S12 and thereafterhave been already described above, description thereof is omitted here.

On the other hand, if some error has occurred during the panoramic imagecapture processing of step S8, the panoramic image capture processingimproperly ends. In such a case, since the error flag is set to 1, adetermination of YES is made in step S9, and control proceeds to stepS10.

In step S10, the image capture control unit 51 displays the errorcontent on the display unit 19. Specific examples of the error contentto be displayed will be described later.

In step S11, the image capture control unit 51 releases the panoramicimage capture mode and resets the error flag to 0.

After that, control goes back to step S1, and processes thereafter arerepeated. This means that the image capture control unit 51 waits foranother image capture operation by the user.

In the above, a description has been given of flow of the image captureprocessing with reference to FIG. 7.

In the following, a description will be given of detailed flow of thepanoramic image capture processing of step S8 of the image captureprocessing of FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed flow of the panoramic imagecapture processing.

As described above, when the shutter switch 41 is full pressed in thepanoramic image capture mode, a determination of YES is made in step S6of FIG. 7, control proceeds to step S8, and the following processing isexecuted as the panoramic image capture processing.

That is, in step S31 of FIG. 8, the image capture control unit 51acquires angular displacement from the angular velocity sensor 22.

In step S32, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notthe angular displacement acquired in the process of step S31 is greaterthan 0.

If the user has not moved the digital camera 1, the angular displacementis equal to 0. Therefore, a determination of NO is made in step S32, andcontrol proceeds to step S33.

In step S33, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or nota predetermined time period for which the angular displacement continuesto be 0 has elapsed. As the predetermined time period, for example, atime period can be employed that is appropriately longer than a timeperiod necessary for the user to start to move the digital camera 1after the full press of the shutter switch 41.

If the predetermined time period has not yet elapsed, a determination ofNO is made in step S33, control goes back to step S31, and the processesthereafter are repeated. As long as the duration of a state in which theuser does not move the digital camera 1 does not exceed thepredetermined time, the image capture control unit 51 repeats the loopprocessing from steps S31 to S33: NO, and thereby the panoramic imagecapture processing enters into a waiting state.

In such a waiting state, if the user moves the digital camera 1, theangular displacement supplied from the angular velocity sensor 22becomes greater than 0. In such a case, a determination of YES is madein step S32, and control proceeds to step S34.

In step S34, the image capture control unit 51 updates the cumulativeangular displacement by adding the angular displacement acquired in theprocess of step S31 to the previous cumulative angular displacement(cumulative angular displacement=previous cumulative angulardisplacement+angular displacement). In this way, the value stored in theRAM 13 as the cumulative angular displacement is updated.

The cumulative angular displacement is intended to mean such anaccumulated value of the angular displacement and indicates the movingamount of the digital camera 1.

Here, in the present embodiment, each time the user moves the digitalcamera 1 by a predetermined amount, it is assumed that image data of oneframe (target to be combined) for generation of image data of apanoramic image in progress is supplied from the image processing unit17 to the image composition unit 52.

For this purpose, a cumulative angular displacement corresponding to the“predetermined amount” as moving amount of the digital camera 1 has beengiven in advance as the “constant value” in the initializationprocessing of step S1 of FIG. 7.

In the present embodiment, each time the cumulative angular displacementreaches the constant value, image data of one frame (target to becombined) is supplied from the image processing unit 17 to the imagecomposition unit 52, and the cumulative angular displacement is reset tobe 0.

Such a series of processing is carried out as processes of a subsequentstep S35 and thereafter.

In step S35, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notthe cumulative angular displacement has reached the constant value.

If the cumulative angular displacement has not yet reached the constantvalue, a determination of NO is made in step S35, control goes back tostep S31, and processes thereafter are repeated. This means that untilthe cumulative angular displacement has reached the constant value dueto the fact that the user has moved the digital camera 1 by thepredetermined amount, the image capture control unit 51 repeats the loopprocessing from steps S31 to S35.

After that, when the cumulative angular displacement has reached theconstant value due to the fact that the user has moved the digitalcamera 1 by the predetermined amount, a determination of YES is made instep S35, and control proceeds to step S36.

In step S36, the image composition unit 52 acquires image data of oneframe from the image processing unit 17 under control of the imagecapture control unit 51.

This means that after control proceeds to step S36 due to the fact thatthe cumulative angular displacement has reached the constant value, theimage capture control unit 51 issues an acquisition instruction to theimage composition unit 52.

Upon receiving the acquisition instruction, the image composition unit52 acquires image data of one frame from the image processing unit 17,as the process of step S36.

In step S37, the image composition unit 52 overwrites (at least a partof) the image data of the acquired frame on the data of the blank areastored in the storage area 101 (FIG. 6) and thereby generates image dataof a panoramic image in progress.

When the image data of the panoramic image in progress is supplied fromthe image composition unit 52 to the image reduction unit 53, controlproceeds to step S38.

In step S38, the image reduction unit 53 reduces the size (resolution)of the supplied image data of the panoramic image in progress.

When the reduced image data of the panoramic image in progress issupplied from the image reduction unit 53 to the display control unit54, control proceeds to step S39.

In step S39, the display control unit 54 causes the display unit 19 todisplay the image expressed by the image data supplied from the imagereduction unit 53, i.e., the reduced panoramic image in progress,superimposed on the live-view image.

In step S40, the image capture control unit 51 updates the total angulardisplacement by adding the current cumulative angular displacement,which is approximately equal to the constant value, to the previoustotal angular displacement (total angular displacement=previous totalangular displacement+cumulative angular displacement). In this way, thevalue stored in the RAM 13 as the total angular displacement is updated.

In step S41, the image capture control unit 51 resets the cumulativeangular displacement to 0. This means that the value stored in the RAM13 as the cumulative angular displacement is updated to 0.

In this way, the cumulative angular displacement is used for controllingthe timing of the image data of one frame (target to be combined) beingsupplied from the image processing unit 17 to the image composition unit52, i.e., the timing of issuing the acquisition instruction. For thispurpose, the cumulative angular displacement is reset to 0 each time theconstant value is reached and the acquisition instruction is issued.

Accordingly, even if the cumulative angular displacement is used, theimage capture control unit 51 cannot recognize how far the digitalcamera 1 has moved from the panoramic image capture processing startingup until the present.

In order to make it possible for the image capture control unit 51 torecognize how far the digital camera 1 has moved, in the presentembodiment, the total angular displacement is employed in addition tothe cumulative angular displacement.

The total angular displacement is an accumulated value of the angulardisplacement, but is not reset to 0 even if the cumulative angulardisplacement has exceeded the predetermined amount, and is alwaysaccumulatively added until the panoramic image capture processing ends(more precisely, until the process of step S47, which will be describedlater, is executed).

After the total angular displacement is updated in the process of stepS40 and the cumulative angular displacement is reset to 0 in the processof step S41, control proceeds to step S42.

In step S42, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notrelease operation has been performed (full press operation has beenreleased).

If no release operation has been performed, i.e., if the shutter switch41 is still full pressed by the user, a determination of NO is made instep S42, and control proceeds to step S43.

In step S43, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notany error has occurred in image capturing.

Though error in image capturing is not particularly limited, in thepresent embodiment, as an error in image capturing, any movement of thedigital camera 1 in an oblique, upward, downward, or reverse directionby more than a predetermined amount is employed.

If no error in image capturing has occurred, a determination of NO ismade in step S43, and control proceeds to step S45.

In step S45, the image capture control unit 51 determines whether or notthe total angular displacement has exceeded the threshold value.

As described above, the total angular displacement is intended to meanan accumulated value of angular displacement from the point in time whenthe panoramic image capture processing starts (when full press operationhas been performed) until the point in time when the process of step S40is executed.

In the present embodiment, the maximum possible amount by which the usercan move the digital camera 1 during the panoramic image capturing ispredetermined. The total angular displacement corresponding to the“maximum moving amount” as moving amount of the digital camera 1 hasbeen given in advance as the “threshold value” in the initializationprocessing of step S1 of FIG. 7.

This means that, in the present embodiment, the fact that the totalangular displacement has reached the threshold value means that thedigital camera 1 has moved by the maximum moving amount.

Therefore, if the total angular displacement has not reached thethreshold value, i.e., the moving amount of the digital camera 1 has notreached the maximum moving amount, the user can still continue to movethe digital camera 1. In this case, a determination of NO is made instep S45, control goes back to step S31, and processes thereafter arerepeated.

Assuming that a state in which the time period for which the angulardisplacement continues to be zero reaches a predetermined time period(the digital camera 1 has not moved for the predetermined time period)is included as one error in image capturing, as long as the full pressoperation continues in a state no error has occurred in, the loopprocessing from steps S31 to S45 is repeated.

During such loop processing, as described above with reference to FIGS.5A to 5C, the displays of both the live-view image and the panoramicimage in progress continue to be updated in accordance with the movementof the digital camera 1.

Since the user can perform operation of the panoramic image capturingwhile viewing and recognizing such a panoramic image in progress beingcontinuously updated, it becomes possible to easily view and recognizethe histories of image capturing with accuracy from the onset of thepanoramic image capturing up to the present. As a result, the user caneasily acquire a desired panoramic image without repeating the imagecapture operation many times.

After that, if a release operation is performed in a state in which noerror has occurred (i.e., YES is determined in the process of step S42)or if the digital camera 1 has moved by more than the maximum movingamount (i.e., YES is determined in the process of step S45), thencontrol proceeds to step S46.

In step S46, the image capture control unit 51 generates image data of apanoramic image by the image composition unit 52, and stores it in theremovable media 31 as the image data to be recorded.

In step S47, the image capture control unit 51 resets the total angulardisplacement to 0.

With this, the panoramic image capture processing properly ends. Thismeans that the process of step S8 of FIG. 7 properly ends, and adetermination of NO is made in the process of the next step S9. Sincethe processes after NO is determined in the process of step S9 have beenalready described above, description thereof is omitted here.

During the series of processes described above, if some error occurs,i.e., if YES is determined in the process of step S33, or if YES isdetermined in the process of step S43, then control proceeds to stepS44.

In step S44, the image capture control unit 51 sets the error flag to 1.

In this case, the process of step S46 is not executed, i.e., no imagedata of any panoramic image is recorded, and the panoramic image captureprocessing improperly ends.

This means that the process of step S8 of FIG. 7 improperly ends, YES isdetermined in the process of the subsequent step S9, and error contentis displayed in the process of step S10.

What is displayed as error content in this case is not limited asdescribed above, and, for example, a message such as “Image capturefailure” or “Time is over” may be displayed.

As described above, the digital camera 1 of the present embodiment isprovided with an image capturing unit 16, which sequentially outputsdata of each image sequentially acquired by capturing an image at apredetermined time interval, as image data of a frame.

The digital camera 1 of the present embodiment is also provided with animage composition unit 52 and a display control unit 54.

The image composition unit 52 acquires image data of a frame outputtedfrom the image capturing unit 16 by the image processing unit 17 eachtime the digital camera 1 moves by a predetermined amount (each time theabove-described cumulative angular displacement reaches a constantvalue) and stores it in the storing unit 18. Furthermore, the imagecomposition unit 52 combines at least a part of image data of aplurality of frames that have been cumulatively stored in the storingunit 18, and thereby sequentially generates image data of a panoramicimage in progress (composite image).

The display control unit 54 performs control to display frames (i.e.,live-view images) of image data sequentially outputted from the imagecapturing unit 16, simultaneously with panoramic images in progress(composite images) of the image data sequentially generated by the imagecomposition unit 52.

With this, as described above with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5C, thedisplays of both the panoramic image in progress (composite image) andthe live-view image continue to be updated in accordance with themovement of the digital camera 1.

Since the user can perform the operation of the panoramic imagecapturing while viewing and recognizing such panoramic images inprogress (composite image) being continuously updated, it becomespossible to easily view and recognize the histories of image capturingwith accuracy from the start of the panoramic image capturing up to thepresent. As a result, the user can easily acquire a desired panoramicimage without repeating the image capture operation many times.

Especially, in the digital camera 1 of the present embodiment thedisplay control unit 54 performs control to cause the display unit 19 todisplay a panoramic image in progress (composite image) superimposed ona live-view image.

In this case, since the user can simultaneously view and recognize boththe live-view image and the panoramic image in progress, it becomespossible to view and recognize a subject currently captured in thelive-view image and to view and recognize with accuracy where thesubject is included in the panoramic image.

The digital camera 1 of the present embodiment is further provided withan image reduction unit 53 that reduces the size of image data of apanoramic image in progress.

With this, the display control unit 54 can superimpose the reducedpanoramic image in progress on the live-view image.

In this case, since the panoramic image in progress does not hinder thelive-view image from being displayed, the user is ensured of being ableto view and recognize a subject to be captured subsequently from thelive-view image.

In the digital camera 1 of the present embodiment, the image compositionunit 52 generates image data of a panoramic image as composite imagedata to be recorded if a predetermined condition is satisfied such thata release operation has been performed or that the total angulardisplacement has reached the threshold value.

In this case, the image capture control unit 51 performs control tostore in the removable media 31 the image data of the panoramic imagegenerated to be recorded.

Thus, it becomes possible for the user to easily store image data of adesired panoramic image in the removable media 31 without repeatingimage capture operation many times.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to theembodiment described above, and any modifications and improvements areincluded within the scope of the present invention as long as an objectof the present invention can be realized.

For example, in the embodiment described above, it has been describedthat the display unit 19 displays a reduced panoramic image in progresssuperimposed on a live-view image, the display forms of the live-viewimage and the panoramic image in progress are not limited thereto, andany display forms may be employed as long as both of the live-view imageand the panoramic image in progress can be simultaneously displayed.

For example, the screen of the display unit 19 may be divided into upperand lower parts, so that one of the upper and lower parts displays thelive-view image and the other of the upper and lower parts displays thepanoramic image in progress.

As described above, since the live-view image and the panoramic image inprogress are displayed in a clearly distinguishable manner, it becomespossible for the user to more clearly view and recognize the panoramicimage in progress that shows the formation process of a panoramic image.This means that the user can more easily view and recognize the historyof image capturing with higher accuracy from the onset of the panoramicimage capturing until the present, and it becomes possible to easilyacquire a desired panoramic image with much less image captureoperation.

Furthermore, for example, the panoramic image in progress may bedisplayed unreduced in size as necessary.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, it has been described that theimage composition unit 52 executes image composition processing byoverwriting the frame to be combined on the blank area of the previouspanoramic image in progress using the image data of the previouspanoramic image in progress and the image data of the frame lastlyacquired to be combined. However, only the effective image of thepanoramic image in progress may be displayed without displaying theblank area.

Furthermore, although in the embodiment described above the imagereduction unit 53 is provided in a later stage of the image compositionunit 52, the image reduction unit 53 may be provided in an earlier stageof the image composition unit 52. In this case, the image reduction unit53 may sequentially reduce image data of frames sequentially suppliedfrom the image processing unit 17. In this case, the image compositionunit 52 may generate image data of a panoramic image in progress bycombining image data of each frame that has already been reduced.

Furthermore, although a description was given in the embodimentdescribed above that the angular displacement of the digital camera 1 isdetected by way of the angular velocity sensor 22, the method ofdetecting the angular displacement is not limited to this.

For example, a method may be employed such that the angular displacementof the digital camera 1 is detected by way of image processing byanalyzing the live-view image.

Furthermore, although a description was given in the embodimentdescribed above that the forms of the panoramic image in progress andthe panoramic image are landscape-oriented, the present invention is notlimited to this. The form of the panoramic image in progress and thepanoramic image may be portrait-oriented, i.e., elongated in a directionin which the digital camera 1 is moved.

Furthermore, a description was given in the embodiment described abovethat the image capturing apparatus according to the present invention isconfigured by a digital camera.

However, the present invention is not limited to this and can be appliedto any electronic device having an image capture function capable ofpanoramic image capturing. For example, the present invention can beapplied to a portable personal computer, a portable navigation device, aportable game device, and the like.

The series of processing described above can be executed by hardware andalso can be executed by software.

In a case in which the series of processing is to be executed bysoftware, the program configuring the software is installed from anetwork or a storage medium in an image capturing apparatus or acomputer that controls the image capturing apparatus. The computer maybe a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware. Alternatively, thecomputer may be a computer capable of executing various functions byinstalling various programs, i.e., a general-purpose personal computer,for example.

The storage medium containing the program can be configured not only byremovable media 31 distributed separately from the device main body forsupplying the program to a user, but also by a storage medium or thelike supplied to the user in a state incorporated in the device mainbody in advance. The removable media 31 is composed of a magnetic disk(including a floppy disk), an optical disk, a magnetic optical disk, orthe like, for example. The storage medium supplied to the user in thestate incorporated in the device main body in advance includes the ROM12 storing the program, a hard disk included in the storing unit 18, andthe like, for example.

It should be noted that, in the present description, the step describingthe program stored in the storage medium includes not only theprocessing executed in a time series following this order, but alsoincludes processing executed in parallel or individually, which is notnecessarily executed in a time series.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image capturing apparatus, comprising: animage capturing unit that includes an image sensor and that sequentiallycaptures frames; and a processor which is configured to function as: animage generation unit that generates panoramic image data from theframes captured by the image capturing unit; a display control unit thatcauses a display to separately and simultaneously display (i) apanoramic image in progress corresponding to the panoramic image datagenerated by the image generation unit and (ii) a live-view imagecorresponding to a frame that is newly captured by the image capturingunit while the frames are being captured by the image capturing unit; areception unit that receives an instruction to terminate image captureprocessing of the image capturing unit while the panoramic image inprogress and the live-view image are being displayed; and a recordingcontrol unit that performs, in response to reception of the instruction,control to record, as a completed panoramic image, panoramic image datagenerated from the frames captured by the time when reception of theinstruction by the reception unit is finished, even if frames have notyet been captured in a predetermined capture range set in advance for afull panoramic image to be generated.
 2. The image capturing apparatusas set forth in claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes thedisplay to display the panoramic image in progress such that thepanoramic image in progress comprises (i) a first area corresponding tothe panoramic image data and (ii) a second area to be overwritten withimages corresponding to the frames to be newly captured by the imagecapturing unit and which are to be combined with panoramic image datagenerated by the image generation unit, wherein the first area increaseswith progression of the generation of the panoramic image data and thesecond area decreases with progression of the generation of thepanoramic image data, wherein the recording control unit performscontrol to record panoramic image data generated from the framescaptured by the time when reception of the instruction by the receptionunit is finished, even if the second area still remains in the panoramicimage in progress.
 3. The image capturing apparatus as set forth inclaim 1, further comprising a memory that stores data of the framescaptured by the image capturing unit, wherein the image generation unitgenerates the panoramic image data from the data of the frames stored inthe memory.
 4. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in claim 1,wherein the display control unit causes the display to display thepanoramic image in progress such that the panoramic image in progress issuperimposed on the live-view image.
 5. The image capturing apparatus asset forth in claim 4, wherein the display control unit causes thedisplay to separately display the panoramic image in progress and thelive-view image such that the panoramic image in progress issuperimposed on a part of the live-view image.
 6. The image capturingapparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the display control unitcauses the display to display the panoramic image in progress such thatthe panoramic image in progress is not superimposed on the live-viewimage.
 7. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, whereinthe display control unit causes the display to display the panoramicimage in progress such that the panoramic imaged in progress is smallerthan the live-view image.
 8. A method performed by an image capturingapparatus which comprises a processor, and an image capturing unit thatincludes an image sensor and that sequentially captures frames, themethod comprising: generating, with the processor, panoramic image datafrom the frames captured by the image capturing unit; performing, withthe processor, display control that causes a display to separately andsimultaneously display (i) a panoramic image in progress correspondingto the generated panoramic image data and (ii) a live-view imagecorresponding to a frame that is newly captured by the image capturingunit while the frames are being captured by the image capturing unit;receiving, with the processor, an instruction to terminate image captureprocessing of the image capturing unit while the panoramic image inprogress and the live-view image are being displayed; and performingcontrol with the processor, in response to reception of the instruction,to record, as a completed panoramic image, panoramic image datagenerated from the frames captured by the time when reception of theinstruction is finished, even if frames have not yet been captured in apredetermined capture range set in advance for a full panoramic image tobe generated.
 9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored thereon a program that is executable by a computer in animage capturing apparatus which comprises an image capturing unit thatincludes an image sensor and that sequentially captures frames, theprogram being executable by the computer to make the computer executefunctions comprising: generating panoramic image data from the framescaptured by the image capturing unit; performing display control thatcauses a display to separately and simultaneously display (i) apanoramic image in progress corresponding to the generated panoramicimage data and (ii) a live-view image corresponding to a frame that isnewly captured by the image capturing unit while the frames are beingcaptured by the image capturing unit; receiving an instruction toterminate image capture processing of the image capturing unit while thepanoramic image in progress and the live-view image are being displayed;and performing, in response to reception of the instruction, control torecord, as a completed panoramic image, panoramic image data generatedfrom the frames captured by the time when reception of the instructionis finished, even if frames have not yet been captured in apredetermined capture range set in advance for a full panoramic image tobe generated.
 10. An image capturing apparatus, comprising: an imagecapturing device that includes an image sensor and that captures framesat predetermined time intervals; and a processor that is configured toperform operations comprising: sequentially combining at least a part ofimage data from image data of a plurality of frames captured by theimage capturing device; performing display control that causes a displayto display a live-view image corresponding to a frame that is newlycaptured by the image capturing device while the image data of theframes are being captured by the image capturing device; receiving aninstruction to terminate image capture processing of the image capturingdevice while the plurality of frames are being captured; and performing,in response to reception of the instruction, control to record, as acompleted panoramic image, panoramic image data generated from theframes captured by the time when reception of the instruction by thereception unit is finished, even if frames have not yet been captured ina predetermined capture range set in advance for a full panoramic imageto be generated.
 11. The image capturing apparatus as set forth in claim10, wherein the control to record the panoramic image data of thecompleted panoramic image is performed after reception of theinstruction.